Silas Marner Themes - Family and Parenting Flashcards
(5 cards)
Give 5 quotes that demonstrate the destructive influence of improper parenting
“bred up in a home where the hearth had no smiles”
“there was no pleasant morning greeting between them”
“his father’s indulgence had not been kindness”
“without that presence of a wife and mother which is the foundation of wholesome love and fear”
“the proud squire condescended to preside in the parlour”
Give 5 quotes that demonstrate the transformative affect of parenthood for those who choose to accept it
“reawakening his senses with her fresh life”
“warming him into joy because she had joy”
“the sense of presiding goodness and the human trust which come with all pure peace and joy”
“I want to everything as can be done for the child”
“called him away from his weaving”
“no child was afraid of approaching Silas when Eppie was near”
Give 4 quotes that demonstrate that love, rather than punishment, is better for raising children
“failure of the coal hole discipline shook Silas’ belief in the total efficacy of punishment”
“so Eppie was reared without punishment”
“She’d take it all for fun”
“always on the watch lest one of her father’s strange attacks should come on”
Give 2 quotes that show nurture is more important than nature
“I can’t leave my father… and I don’t want to be a lady”
“I can’t give up the folks that I’m used to”
Give 5 pieces of context relating to family
Victorian attitude - romanticism, though past it’s peak, still had a strong influence - idolized childhood as a time of innocence
However, society offered very little formal protection for children, and child labour in workhouses was common. Orphans often sent to these workhouses as they have no status in society.
Adoption was not a legal process - children could be taken in by family or friends.
Symbol/motif of the hearth - Victorian writers such as Dickens used the hearth as a symbol of family unity
Victorians had a great interest in moral questions such as nature vs nurture.
